The Nigerian Communications Commission NCC has explained the rationale behind its decision to direct alltelecoms operators to reactivate all mobile phone lines that were disconnected over the weekend, saying it was to relieve the subscribers of the inconveniences caused by the disconnections, given the shortness of the time to carry out the National Identity Number NIN verification and linkage with the Subscriber Identification Module SIM.

According to a statement by the Director, Public Affairs of the Commission, Reuben Muoka, the interest of the consumers (subscribers) remains of primary importance to the Commission, as the extension would afford them the opportunity to verify their NINs and link same with their SIMs.

He therefore urged members of the public to take advantage of the current extension to verify their NINs and link same with their SIMs as soon as possible, arguing that the exercise, which started since 2020 is designed to promote national security and also protect the citizens’ information.

“The consumer is our priority, therefore, considering the challenges the blockages have caused, the Commission has directed all operators to reactivate all lines that were disconnected over the weekend in view of the short time available for consumers to undertake the verification of their NINs with their SIMs. Reactivated consumers are to note that this is for a limited period to allow them to properly link their NIN to their SIM.

“Members of the public who are yet to verify their SIMs are encouraged to do so as soon as possible to maintain access to their lines”, he said.

He further observed that since December 2023, the Commission has in a bid to give ample time to the customers to verify and link their NINs to their SIMs, reviewed the deadlines for over four time, regretting that some subscribers have not been able to take advantage of these reviews and extensions.

For instance, it was gathered thatsince December 2023, the Commission reviewed the deadlines from April 15, 2024 for the full network barring of subscribers, who have unverified NIN details to July 31, 2024 to give them more time.

The statement reads in part: “Over the weekend many telecoms subscribers/consumers were unable to access their phone lines because of the inability of many telecom consumers to verify their National Identification Numbers (NINs) with their Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs). This meant that their numbers were blocked by their telecom service providers in keeping with laws and policies of the NIN-SIM linkage.

“Telecoms consumers and the public will recall the compulsory linkage of NIN with SIM which began in December 2020 when the government directed telecommunication companies to bar unregistered SIM cards and SIMs that were not linked to NIN.

“Since December 2023, the Commission has since reviewed the deadline a few times; April 15, 2024 was set as the deadline for the full network barring of subscribers with four or fewer SIMs that had unverified NIN details. This deadline was then reviewed to July 31, 2024, to give consumers more time to ensure their submitted NIN details are properly verified.

“Despite these extensions, many phone lines are yet to be linked with verified NINs. The objectives of this exercise by the Federal Government of Nigeria include enhancing national security and ensuring the national SIM ownership database is accurate. The NIN-SIM linkage policy aids in verifying and protecting users’ identities while also providing a critical infrastructure that assures access to the benefits of a robust digital economy for the citizenry.”